Monday, May 14, 2007

Stage 5 Continued

Now Where Were We? Oh Right. Stage 5Back in January, at the beginning of our adventures in Stage 5, Nuvy was just starting to walk, just starting to say a word or two, and generally behaving as expected for this stage. Then, somebody turned our snow globe upside down (previous post if you're interested in the details...), but now we are beginning to see more clearly again, and are ready to continue describing Stage 5. As ever, if human development bores you silly, just skip to the environmental supports. That's where the "stuff" is. Note from the mailbag:I have had a couple of emails asking for books with all this "stages" information in them. If anyone knows of a single source, please post it. I am writing exclusively from class notes and projects, and have not done too much research into the background sources, but it seems that there are lots of different ways to slice this melon, and I'll bet each one has its own library. I have also had several messages about differences between my panel of gurus and other panels who run other Montessori toddler training programs, and you bet! There are as many disparate ideas on (tummy time, mobiles, mirrors, crying, whatever...) as there are folks who hang out a Montessori training shingle and tell us all THE MONTESSORI LAW. These bother me less and amuse me more, the longer I keep up this project. Anyway, where's the fun in agreeing all the time?

Stage 5 Summary

Stage 5 is defined by my guru panel as the period between 12 and 18 months. Roughly one shoe size, right? The following is a summary of what we expect from the Experimental Toddler at this stage, after that a few environmental additions we've made. Next post, we'll talk a little about what we have actually observed from our E.T. so far.Neurological and Physical DevelopmentSignificant specialization occurs in all areas the brain at Stage 5, and of particular interest is the specialization of the hemispheres (the old "left-brain/right-brain" thing all those Signals t-shirts are always chirping about). This specialization and coordination between hemispheres precipitates:

evidence of hand-dominance ("lefty" or "righty")

heterolateral movement--meaning alternating movement evenly on both sides of the body, such as stair-climbing with both legs, swinging arms while walking, and other left/right/left/right activities.

cross-patterning--or the ability to reach across the center of the body to do something, like shaking hands, opening doors, or grabbing a spoon from the left side of your plate, using your right hand. Follow?

Cycles of activity are getting established, and with this come the old sleeping and eating routines. You might get some speech at this stage, but many times it comes a little later.

New Physical Skills

undressing--a variably convenient skill for parents.

walking steadily and carrying objects while walking

opening and closing things (doors, jars, boxes...)

resisting any new barriers--such as newly placed baby gates. Stage 5 children abhor any kind of physical restraint, so if it's not too late for you, go ahead and get those baby gates up long before you think you'll need them. A barrier placed before Stage 5 is likely to be viewed as a natural part of the environment (at least for a little while) while one placed during Stage 5 will probably become an object of resistance.

jumping on both feet

catching and throwing things

leaning forward on tiptoe

digging and building

She is really beginning to use her hands as tools, rather than just for locomotion or gazing, and finds that they are pretty useful for things like feeding herself (food and other things).

Cognitive Development

An interesting cognitive milestone is reached at about this time--the Stage 5 child begins to learn from trial and error, and to alter her strategy to accomplish a goal. If she has a goal, and her current strategy for reaching it isn't working, she'll try it another way. Just a few months ago, she would keep trying the same thing over and over until she either succeeded or abandoned the goal altogether.

She can also go back to an interrupted task--another development that is variably useful for parents--at her next opportunity. Just a little while ago, she would have forgotten all about the interrupted activity and gone on to something else.

Repetition continues to be important, but the sequences become more and more comples, so you see building and stacking. She is gratified by creating tall things or lifting heavy things. She can identify familiar objects and people in a picture, and can categorize based on a simple common feature (e.g. same color, different color).

Emotional and Social Development

The Stage 5 child's interpersonal skills acquire remerkable subtlety. She starts to consciously regulate her emotions, and realizes the influence her behavior has on others--particularly her parents. She can curb her anger if there's positive incentive to do so, tests limits, and enjoys applause. She loves an audience and tries on various roles to see how they feel.

She has a strong sense of self and ownership. She can take turns to some degree, but is a long way yet from sharing. She begins to take an interest in other children, often preferring them to adults.

Speech is emerging, and she will name things and remember their names. She experiments vocally with animal sounds and rhythms. she enjoys rhyming as a linguistic point of interest.

Environmental Supports

Space!:The Stage 5 child is walking now, and so needs plenty of room to explore, both inside and out. If you don't have a big yard, go to parks--with and without play equipment. Free movement outside without play equipment is as valuable as climbing and playing on structures. Just make sure there's plenty of outdoor time that's not stroller time. Inside, move those barriers out a bit if you can, take all the breakables off the second (or third) shelf, and let her roam as much as possible.

Language: Naming, naming naming. Collections of things to name are great for this stage. The classic ones are farm animals, fruits and vegetables and the like, but you will find all kinds of things out there. Tools, articles of clothing (doll clothes are good), whatever you can think of.

Sensorial: Opposites are big in this stage. High contrast elements in a variety of sensory experiences should be introduced for matching and comparison. Big and small, hot and cold (not too hot, right?), smooth and rough, hard and soft, loud and quiet, whatever you can think of. A lot of these don't require any new "equipment". You can do loud and quiet with nothing, and just about everything else can be improvised.

Math: 1:1 correspondence appears to be the key concept. Find something with several compartments and put one thing in each compartment (I love those little sock drawer organizers for this. You could even use the socks.). This is where math really begins. After all, without 1:1 correspondence, counting is just language--remembering a sequence of sounds, right? Another great activity for this is doling things out to the family (one blueberry for you, one for Daddy, and one for Mommy), or table setting, if you think your child is up to it.

Care of self/environment (Practical life): With the newfound ability to take off clothes comes an opportune time to introduce cubbies, laundry hampers, hooks, baskets, any easy organizational tool. You might already have introduced tooth brushing and hair brushing. I have decided to convert my abandoned weaning table (see "Weany, Whiny, Whoa!") into a handwashing station.

Grace and Courtesy: When you start to get language that means "give me", you can start expecting "please" and "thank you". Well, expect might be too strong a word, but you can ACT as if you expect it...

The little imitator will do whatever you do, so it's a good time to point out things like covering your face when you cough or sneeze, washing your hands before and after eating. You might also start hearing some sailor-language, if you're apt to use it.

Ok, this post is plenty long, so I'll give you the rundown on my the experimental toddler's actual observed behavior in the next post.

here is the procedure for a handwashing station. I had such fun writing it, that I think I'll make a post of it--only later. :)

The weaning table is not a "perfect" wash stand, but it is the right size and table height for my toddler.

For the handwashing setup, you'll need a bowl and pitcher (I like enamel) that are a manageable size for the child. There is a nice set in michael olaf, but you could as easily find something suitable in a dollar store. Also a little bar of soap--those little gift soaps in the shape of flowers or whatever are nice, and interesting and some little soap dish or a rubber pad with suction cups.

Because the weaning table doesn't come with a towel bar, you could either install one near the table at a height convenient to the child, or have two baskets handy, one containing clean towels (those cheap white washcloths you get in packs of 15 or 20 are great for this,) and one for dirty ones.

You will also want to have a little sponge on hand for cleaning up any spills.

Set up the station in this order, from left to right:1. pitcher (with a little water)2. bowl3. soap4. towel (clean basket, dirty basket)5. sponge

This is the absolutely correct order, but you may find, as I have, that the towels are more conveniently stored under the table, clean on left, dirty on right, in which case, the sponge is directly to the right of the soap.

The activity starts at the left, where the child pours the water from the pitcher into the bowl. Then dips hands (there are minisule, prescribed ways of hand dipping, if you are interested.), applies soap (again, this can be choreographed if you think your toddler is up to it. I use "simplified handwashing" for toddlers, which leaves out some of these minutiae), dips hands again, dries hands, and wipes down the entire apparatus with the sponge. As you can imagine, this is not a one-shot lesson for most toddlers!

testdriver where are you???thanks for the handwashing procedure I followed it step by step...total success...the older brothers and sisters are showing signs of montessori regresion..everyone wants to wash!!Could you talk to me about your gurus view on thumb sucking, I had the idea it was frowned upon because it could produce candidates for braces??? Aparently it isn`t so.Waiting for your next adventure.

Nuvy is an ardent thumbsucker! The Montessori-types I have read come down mostly in the pro-thumbsucking camp. The reason has less to do with orthodontics than with independence.

The short answer is that the thumb is under the child's control, while the pacifier is under the parent's control. You give it, you take it away. The thumb is preferred because the child already has access to it.

Of course, very young infants who cannot find their thumbs yet still have a problem here. There are several kinds of pacifiers on the market now that do not stay in the mouth if the infant is not actively sucking on them. These are preferred to the kind that cup the mouth and rest inside, even when the child is not sucking. The difference is the degree of intervention. The pacifier that falls out (or the parent's pinky finger, which is what we used) offers the minimum necessary assistance to meet the child's need. So say our experts.

Testdriver , the thumbsucking issue is red hot at home the old factions (grandmothers & such) vs ths new: me (the mommy) and the older brothers and sister (four) basically they are cheering for me as they always do, and the dad is apparently Swiss for now...meanwhile Josephine the child in question devours her hand and I’m not doing any thing to stop her..ha ha I read you handwashing post, I had the same pitfalls with Flopsy (16 months) could you walk me through the water pouring vessel activity and I`ll report back..maybe a picture or two….